[IsraelTimes] Detailing its outreach for the first time, officers say the IDF is building clinics inside its war-torn neighbor and treating sick children in Israel; hundreds of tons of food, medicine and fuel sent to ravaged border townsThe Israeli military on Wednesday unveiled the scope of its humanitarian assistance in Syria that has dramatically mushroomed over the last year to include treating chronically ill children who have no access to hospitals, building clinics in Syria, and supplying hundreds of tons of food, medicines and clothes to war-ravaged villages across the border.
Since Syria disintegrated in a brutal civil war that has left hundreds of thousands dead and millions displaced, Israel has struggled with how to deal with the humanitarian disaster taking place just across the border, a dilemma made even more complicated by the fact that Israel and Syria remain officially at war.
Israel initially responded by providing medical treatment to Syrians maimed in the war, treating more than 3,000 people in field hospitals on the border and in public hospitals, mostly in northern Israel since 2013.
But on Wednesday the army revealed that since June 2016 it has quietly been working on Operation Good Neighbor, a massive multi-faceted humanitarian relief operation to keep starvation away from the thousands of Syrians who live along the border and provide basic medical treatment to those who cannot access it in Syria because of the war.
In the year since the operation was launched, over 600 Syrian children, accompanied by their mothers, have come to Israel for treatment. Hundreds of tons of food, medical equipment and clothing have also been sent across the border to Syria, clearly bearing Hebrew labels from Israeli companies.
The IDF is also currently facilitating the construction of two clinics within Syria, which will be run by locals and workers from NGOs. This includes logistical coordination and sending over building materials and medical equipment, according to the army.
These clinics are meant to support 80,000 Syrians living in the area near the Syrian city of Quneitra, just across the border.
Inside Israel, another clinic is also being constructed. This one, being built at an army outpost that currently carries the bland name Outpost 116, will be guarded by the IDF but staffed entirely by NGO officials. It will be operated only during the day and is therefore meant to be used to treat Syrians suffering from less severe injuries.
As part of the operation, the army has also stepped up the amount of humanitarian aid it transfers to Syria, in some cases dramatically.
According to IDF figures, the quantity of food sent to Syria has increased tenfold in the past year, from a few dozen tons between 2013 and 2016 to 360 tons in 2016 to 2017 alone.
The amount of clothes, baby formula, medical supplies, diesel fuel and generators being transferred to Syrians have also significantly increased in that time.
While the officers involved in the operation stressed Wednesday that there is no mass starvation on the border, they said there are food shortages, which drives up the price of bread and other essentials.
Israel, therefore, sends over hundreds of tons of flour, oil, sugar, salt, canned beans and dry goods. It has also sent 12,000 cases of baby formula and 1,800 packages of diapers.
Israel has also seen fit to send over eight cars and six mules, the military said.
According to the IDF, most of this humanitarian aid was donated by NGOs, but some was also provided by the Israeli government directly.